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Norfolk-based Brexit Party founder punished for Covid protest

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January 24, 2021
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The Norfolk-based founder of the Brexit Party has appeared in court having been charged with taking part in a coronavirus protest.

Catherine Blaiklock, who ran for UKIP in Great Yarmouth in the 2017 general election, was part of a gathering of more than six people at Leicester Cathedral during the coronavirus emergency period.

Blaiklock, of Lingwood Road, Lingwood, admitted participating in an outdoor gathering of more than six people in Leicester during the coronavirus emergency period.

The case was before Leicester Magistrates Court on Thursday, January 21.

Blaiklock entered a guilty plea through her solicitor Simon Nicholls.

Mr Nicholls told the court his client was not a Covid denier and accepted that coronavirus was real.

He said her eldest daughter was a medical student who has agreed to start giving vaccinations.

But Mr Nicholls said Blaiklock was a libertarian who believed the coronavirus regulations had not been thought through and were too draconian.

He said she believed the government had got it all wrong.

Blaiklock was fined £390, ordered to pay £85 costs and a £39 surcharge.

After joining UKIP in 2014, Blaiklock went onto found the Brexit Party alongside Nigel Farage.

She stood down from the party in March 2019 over anti-Islam tweets.

Blaiklock’s case was listed alongside three others, including Piers Corbyn, the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who were charged with the same offence on July 7 last year.

Corbyn, 73, from London, and the two others pleaded not guilty to the offence and will stand trial at Leicester in June.

Corbyn, a high-profile coronavirus sceptic, is due to stand trial at Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court in March after having been part of an anti-coronavirus protest in Norwich in September last year.

He has denied a charge of holding or being involved in holding a prohibited gathering of more than 30 people on land in a public outdoor place during the emergency period.

Demonstrators wielding placards gathered at the Haymarket on Gentleman’s Walk in the city centre at shortly after midday on September 24.

A crowd of about 50 people took part in the event that was part of a series of 27 protests being held throughout September in towns and cities across the UK – dubbed the ‘Covid-19 Truth Tour’.

Eastern Daily Press

Tesco baby food blackmail farmer revealed as former North East Lincolnshire Councillor and Tory chairman

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August 22, 2020
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The man behind the plot to blackmail Tesco for £1.4m by contaminating jars of baby food was a Ukip MP candidate and a Grimsby Conservative chairman

The man at the centre of the biggest blackmail investigation in the UK is a former North East Lincolnshire councillor and Ukip parliamentary candidate, it can be revealed.

Sheep farmer Nigel Wright is facing up to 14 years in jail for blackmailing Tesco over baby food contaminated with shards of metal.

He represented Freshney ward in Grimsby after winning the seat in 2003, campaigning to reduce crime and the fear of it.

Previously he served as the chairman of the Great Grimsby Conservative Association, when he was the youngest ever to be appointed to the position at the age of 29.

Wright switched to Ukip and stood for the Brigg and Goole Constituency in 2010

But at The Old Bailey on Thursday, the former Healing farmer was convicted of contaminating jars of baby food with shards of metal in an elaborate blackmail of superstore giant, Tesco.

He demanded £1.4 million in Bitcoin from the retailer in return for information about where he had hidden the jars.

Wright, 45, and a married, father of two is facing up to 14 years in prison for his actions.

A sheep farmer in Market Rasen for the past 10 years, living at Pine Meadows, Caistor Road, Wright, denied the charges, but was convicted by jury of two counts of contaminating goods and three counts of blackmail. He claimed he was threatened by a group of travellers.

The court heard two mothers found the metal fragments when they were feeding their children after Wright began his two-year campaign in the spring of 2018.

He threatened to inject tins of fruit with cyanide and salmonella unless the supermarket giant handed over the cash in Bitcoin.

Wright signed off his emails and letters ‘Guy Brush & the Dairy Pirates + Tinkerbell the naughty fairy,’ and claimed he represented dairy farmers who had been underpaid by Tesco.

He triggered two nationwide recalls on both Cow & Gate and Heinz baby food as a result of the threats, prompting the supermarket to clear 140,000 products from the shelves.

A detective posed as a Tesco employee named Sam Scott and handed over £100,000 in the crypto-currency to trap the blackmailer.

Wright was caught on CCTV buying wine and flowers for his wife after placing a contaminated jar on the shelves of a Tesco branch in Lockerbie in Scotland on November 29 last year.

He also placed two jars of contaminated food on the shelves of a Rochdale shop.

Prosecutor Julian Christopher, QC, said the blackmailer took ‘delight’ in his extravagant plan to outsmart the supermarket giant.

He believed he could ‘get rich’ without leaving any trace of his identity by using the bitcoin cryptocurrency and downloading the browser Tor allowing for anonymous communication.

But his emails and letters were forwarded onto police and he was soon unwittingly interacting with an undercover officer.

A draft of an email to Tesco was found on one of Wright’s devices after his property was searched. The threat read: “Imagine a baby’s mouth cut open blood pouring out and the inside of their belly cut and bleeding.”

He was remanded in custody ahead of sentence due to take place at a date to be fixed after pre-sentence reports are prepared.

The sentencing next month at The Old Bailey is a world away from his respected role as the Conservative councillor for Freshney ward, which he won in 2003 along with businessman Paul Brewster and fellow councillor Peter Bellini.

Campaigning for the Freshney ward, aged 28, he said: “My aim is to make the community a clean and safer place, where children can play happily and people do not fear to venture out after dark.”

Wright campaigned for better flood defences in 2007. At his farm at Healing thousands of pounds worth of crops were devastated in floods. A prize ewe he owned drowned, but he managed to save a flock of around 50 of his sheep. Silage from a nearby turkey farm had contaminated flood water.

His animals were again in the news when one of his rams was killed by a dog. Wright called on all dog owners to ensure their pets were kept on a lead after that incident.

Having lost the seat at a later election, he then stood for the Conservatives in Heneage ward in Grimsby in May 2007, but only secured 435 votes.

He told voters he was fan of Road Wars and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. He campaigned to reduce crime and fear of it.

In a debate about school exclusions he said school should not have their hands tied in order to expel unruly kids. He also expressed outrage when there was an arson attack on bales of straw near his then farm on Marsh Lane, Healing.

When someone shot a swan on the River Freshney he told the Grimsby Telegraph “Unfortunately there are people out and about who take pleasure out of doing this” and he called for people to be “more responsible.”

In a debate in the council chamber about nuisance tenants he said it was essential to monitor behaviour and also to take preventative action.

He campaigned with Councillor Bellini to support police to get tough with gangs “terrorising the streets of Willows and Wybers” and branded them “a mindless minority.”

He also served on the Humberside Fire Authority.

The current Conservative Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Councillor Philip Jackson said: “Clearly what he has done is wrong and I would not defend anything he has done, not for a moment.”

Operation Hancock, as the investigation was codenamed, has been the largest blackmail inquiry ever conducted in the UK and was led by Hertfordshire Assistant Chief Constable Bill Jephson, who said: “Throughout this investigation, our key focus was to safeguard the public and identify the individual or group involved as they clearly had no concern for the impact of their actions.

“I want to extend my sincere thanks to all those officers, specialist law enforcement units and agencies who gave of their best in what was often a fast-moving and challenging investigation where no stone was left unturned. This was truly a partnership response which also involved close collaboration with the victim companies who were highly responsive and operationally supportive throughout.”

Assistant Chief Constable Jephson added: “Through the determined efforts of so many dedicated professionals, a dangerous offender is now facing the justice he deserves. I hope the conviction of Nigel Wright will serve as a deterrent to anyone who thinks blackmail is a viable criminal option. The resources available to law enforcement to respond to threats of this nature are significant as crimes like this will simply not be tolerated.”

Grimsby Telegraph

Judge says thugs at Portsmouth FC v Southampton game were not true fans

By
August 2, 2020
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A JUDGE has said hooligans intent on fighting at the Portsmouth v Southampton match are not true fans.

Judge William Ashworth made the comments at Portsmouth Crown Court where he jailed 53-year-old former Ukip candidate Derek Jennings for violent disorder.

Dad-of-two Jennings punched police horse Luna twice, in the nose and mouth, ahead of kick off at the Carabao Cup third round derby match on September 24.

The trusted family man, of Laburnum Grove, Copnor, has now been jailed for 20 months with a six-year football banning order. He admitted violent disorder.

During sentencing, judge Ashworth said: ‘There’s absolutely no doubt that some of the, I won’t call them Portsmouth fans, people from the Portsmouth side of the supporting section – I won’t call them fans because they weren’t there for the football – they were there to fight.

‘They were clearly goading and threatening the Southampton contingent, singing a particular song which was clearly a group indication of a desire to engage in violence.

‘Both groups, Portsmouth and Southampton groups, were exchanging threats and goading each other, and if the police had not been there then this turbulence of threats and aggression from both groups would simply have boiled over into a vast running battle in the residential streets of Portsmouth and the damage and the results of that violence would have been wide ranging.’

More people are being prosecuted in relation to the disorder.

Sgt Leon Astley, from the shared Hampshire and Thames Valley police horse unit, said: ‘Luna was simply there to do her job and assist police in protecting the public

‘This type of behaviour is completely unacceptable.

‘Fortunately she was not injured during this incident but we’ve made sure she’s had plenty of TLC since then.’

Det Chief Insp John McGonigle added: ‘For a grown man to act in this way was deplorable, especially against an animal, who was simply there to help protect people who wanted to enjoy the game and get home safely.

‘We hope this sentence sends a clear message that we will not tolerate this type of behaviour or any disorder at any public event.

‘Action will be taken and those responsible will be investigated.’

Both he and Sgt Astley thanked the public for an ‘outpouring’ of support for Luna.

Portsmouth News

Man Sentenced For Sending ‘Punish A Muslim’ Letters

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September 3, 2019
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David Parnham admitting sending the letters after he was arrested by counter-terrorism police.

A self-styled “Muslim Slayer” who sent the Queen fake anthrax with a note saying “The Clowns R coming 4 you” has been locked up for 12 and a half years.

White supremacist David Parnham, 36, wrote to prominent figures including the Queen and former prime ministers Theresa May and David Cameron as part of a two-year hate campaign.

The IT systems analyst also caused widespread fear and upset through “Punish A Muslim Day” letters, encouraging violence in the community, the Old Bailey heard.

He tried to instil further alarm by posting white powder in the hope it would be mistaken for anthrax, the court heard.

When the Queen was sent an envelope containing the substance, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) response was launched.

Members of the royal household were kept separate from other staff and became “anxious for their health” and the safety of colleagues, the court heard.

Parnham pleaded guilty to 15 offences relating to hundreds of letters written between June 2016 and June 2018.

The charges included encouraging murder, making hoaxes involving noxious substances and bombs, sending letters with intent to cause distress, and encouraging offences.

Judge Anthony Leonard QC said Parnham had been suffering from an autistic spectrum disorder but rejected the suggestion he was psychotic at the time of the offences.

He sentenced Parnham to 12 years and six months in custody to be served in hospital until he is well enough to be transferred to prison.

Judge Leonard told Parnham: “You have yet to appreciate the seriousness of what you have done and seem to want to return to the community at the earliest opportunity to live with your parents.”

Parnham’s failure to appreciate the harm he caused to the Muslim and wider community meant the risk of reoffending was greater, the judge said.

The court heard that Parnham’s activities first came to the attention of authorities in July 2016 when seven letters were intercepted at a Sheffield mail centre and found to contain harmless white powder.

A further 11 letters were identified as having been delivered.

A letter to Cameron contained the wording “Allah is great”, while letters to MPs and mosques contained strong racist language.

In October 2016, more letters containing white powder said “The Clowns R coming 4 you” and were intended to reach the Queen and May.

In December 2016, Parnham sent a fan letter to Dylann Roof, the white supremacist gunman responsible for killing nine black church goers in Charleston, South Carolina.

He told Roof: “I just wanted to thank you for opening my eyes. Ever since you carried out what I’d call the ‘cleansing’ I’ve felt differently about what you’d call ‘racial awareness’.”

In February 2007, letters were sent to mosques and Islamic centres around the UK.

A letter to Berkeley Street Mosque in Hull contained a drawing of a sword with a swastika on it cutting someone’s head off, with the words: “You are going to be slaughtered very soon.”

The author signed off as “Muslim Slayer”.

In March 2017, letters were sent to addresses around the University of Sheffield campus calling for the extermination of minority racial and religious groups.

They contained suggestions on how to kill people and an offer to make a donation of £100 to charity for each death.

In 2018, the series of typed “Punish A Muslim Day” letters were sent to a large number of people, encouraging violence on April 3 2018 – Roof’s birthday.

Parnham, of St Andrew’s Close in Lincoln, was caught through DNA, handwriting and fingerprints on the letters.

Psychiatrists disagreed on whether he had been psychotic at the time he committed the offences.

Dr Martin Lock expressed concern that the defendant had attempted to “mislead” medical professionals.

He told the court Parnham felt “disgusted and ashamed” of what he had done but did not regard it as very “serious”.

Parnham told Dr Lock: “I just wrote letters, I did not mean for anyone to feel fear.”

Dr Paul Wallang said Parnham was suffering a psychotic illness and had felt “paranoia and suspiciousness”, particularly towards religious groups and prominent individuals.

However, he conceded it was possible Parnham could have “pulled he wool” over the eyes of medical professionals dealing with his case.
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Huff Post

Supreme Court appeal blocked for man in Pug Nazi salute case

By
January 23, 2019
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Mark Meechan's clip was viewed more than three million times on YouTube

Mark Meechan’s clip was viewed more than three million times on YouTube


A man who was fined for posting an online video of a dog carrying out Nazi salutes has failed in a bid to challenge his conviction.

Mark Meechan recorded his girlfriend’s pug, Buddha, responding to statements such as “Sieg Heil” by raising its paw.

He was fined £800 at Airdrie Sheriff Court and had hoped to challenge the case at the highest court in the land.

But this has now been blocked by Scotland’s most senior judges.

Meechan, from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, has raised more than £75,000 through an online appeal to help pay for the challenge.

The 31-year-old denied committing an offence under the Communications Act during a trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court last year but was found guilty of breaching it by posting the grossly offensive film.

He claimed that the video was only intended as a joke to upset his girlfriend.

Sheriff Derek O’Carroll fined him £800 and a subsequent attempt by Meechan to challenge his conviction at the Sheriff Appeal Court, where the judges are senior sheriffs, failed after it was rejected in the initial sifting process.

Meechan’s lawyers then raised a petition seeking to have the High Court use its powers to allow an appeal to be taken to the UK Supreme Court in London.

But Scotland’s senior judge, the Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway, sitting with the Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian, and Lord Menzies rejected the move, saying they had no powers to allow any further appeal in the circumstances of the case.

‘Consequences have been immense’

Meechan had sought to pursue a human rights appeal including a claim under article 10 which covers freedom of expression.

His senior counsel, Dorothy Bain QC argued that the petition was competent and necessary to advance the challenge brought by Meechan.

She said: “The consequences of his conviction for this breach of the Communications Act have been immense for him both professionally and personally.”

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, for the Crown, counter argued that the Sheriff Appeal Court had exercised its powers in accordance with statute and called on the judges to refuse Meechan permission to appeal.

Meechan, who posts videos under the name Count Dankula, has a target of raising £100,000 to cover the cost of his appeal.

BBC News

Revealed: far-Right Ukip Brexit demo ‘organiser’ is a convicted kidnapper

By
December 2, 2018
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Gerard Batten, in the white shirt and blue tie, sitting to the left of Tommy Robinson, with Daniel Thomas to his right, at the Ukip demo planning meeting Credit: Gerard Batten/Twitter

Gerard Batten, in the white shirt and blue tie, sitting to the left of Tommy Robinson, with Daniel Thomas to his right, at the Ukip demo planning meeting Credit: Gerard Batten/Twitter


A far right activist who claims to be one of the organisers of a Ukip rally and who attended a top level meeting with the party’s leader Gerard Batten has a conviction for attempted kidnap, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

Daniel Thomas, 29, has been instrumental in promoting “The Brexit Betrayal” march, a London demonstration in which the newly appointed Ukip advisor ‘Tommy Robinson’ is expected to speak on December 9.

In a picture tweeted by Gerard Batten on Friday, Thomas is photographed sat next to Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League, alongside the party leader.

Mr Batten tweeted: “Spent the afternoon planning Brexit Betrayal – Brexit Must Mean Exit March & Rally,” adding that the event was a “leaver family day out”.

It can be revealed Thomas, a father of four, was jailed two years ago for the attempted armed kidnapping of a man in Hampshire.

Daniel Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, with Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, at a demonstration Credit: Daniel Thomas/Facebook

Daniel Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, with Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, at a demonstration Credit: Daniel Thomas/Facebook

Last night, Ukip insisted Thomas was there purely as a Robinson’s bodyguard, despite the photograph showing him sat at the conference table with note paper and having a proven record in organising political rallies.

The revelations could prove to be politically damaging because Ukip’s National Executive Committee is under pressure from former leader Nigel Farage to hold a vote of no confidence in Mr Batten’s leadership when it meets in London.

Last week, Mr Farage wrote a letter to the 15-strong NEC urging it to pass a vote of no confidence in Mr Batten’s leadership over the way he had courted Robinson and pursued an anti-Muslim agenda.

Mr Farage told the Sunday Telegraph: “I am absolutely disgusted with the whole thing. I have been warning repeatedly for the past few months that this was a disastrous course of action. And we are now pretty much at the end game.”

Mr Batten insisted he “was not aware” of Thomas’s conviction and asked to be sent details.

A police mugshot of Daniel Thomas after his arrest for attempted kidnapping

A police mugshot of Daniel Thomas after his arrest for attempted kidnapping

In July 2016, a judge condemned Thomas and two other men for an “extraordinarily frightening incident” matched only by its “stupidity” in which they armed themselves with knives and targeted Graham Page at his home on Hayling Island.

Mr Page told Portsmouth Crown Court that Thomas, along with Darren Anscombe, 38, and Leo Smith, 34, burst into the house shouting “you’re coming with us”.

He claimed they wrongly accused him of stealing £10,000 of drugs from them and tried to drag him away.

Mr Page resisted and the men fled, shouting “we’ll be back”. Upon arrest Thomas, from Hampshire, admitted the offence. He was jailed for two years. The two others received 30 month sentences.

Danny Tommo takes a selfie at one of the far right demonstrations he organised

Danny Tommo takes a selfie at one of the far right demonstrations he organised

After his release from prison last year, Thomas adopted the pseudonym Danny Tommo and organised marches throughout the country calling for Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, to be freed from a sentence for contempt of court.

Thomas became an expert at dealing with local authorities and police to set up protests, where he also gave speeches. He is now among the inner circle of Robinson’s associates and this year organised two rallies outside the Old Bailey when Robinson was appearing there.

Last week, he posted a video to his thousands of followers on Facebook promoting the Ukip march as “the beginning of the political revolution”, adding “we are going to be working together”.

He regularly visits London’s Speakers’ Corner where he films himself arguing with Muslims, and was once handcuffed and detained by police before being released.

Daniel Thomas is led away by police from Speakers' Corner, Hyde Park, London

Daniel Thomas is led away by police from Speakers’ Corner, Hyde Park, London

On Saturday night, Thomas said the attempted kidnapping was committed because he “got involved with some stupid people” after experiencing financial difficulty.

“Everyone deserves a second chance,” he said. “I came out of prison and I have turned my life around.

“I now go to church every Sunday and pray for forgiveness. Hopefully I will better myself over the years and this incident will be forgotten.”

He was privately educated and has worked as a bricklayer, sales and marketing manager and run a web design company. However, he has now stopped working to “dedicate everything to the cause.”

Daniel Thomas speaks at the demonstration he organised outside the Old Bailey while Tommy Robinson appears at a hearing Credit: Rmv/Zuma Press / eyevine

Daniel Thomas speaks at the demonstration he organised outside the Old Bailey while Tommy Robinson appears at a hearing Credit: Rmv/Zuma Press / eyevine

Thomas, a former tank driver with the King’s Royal Hussars, from which he was medically discharged before seeing active service, added: “What we are trying to do with Ukip is the future.”

A Ukip spokesman said Thomas was at Friday’s meeting “in the capacity of Mr Robinson’s personal security”.

He added: “Mr Thomas is not part of Ukip’s planning team. He has served his sentence and has returned to the world of work just as Lords Archer and Ahmed have returned to the House of Lords after serving serious criminal convictions.”

Daily Telegraph

Lincoln man admits sending ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ letters

By
October 12, 2018
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A man has admitted sending hundreds of racist letters nationwide including calls for a “Punish a Muslim Day”.

David Parnham, 35, sent the letters to mosques, Muslim parliamentarians including Lord Ahmed of Wimbledon, the Queen, David Cameron and Theresa May.

He pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to 15 offences, including soliciting to murder and staging a bomb hoax.

Parnham, of St Andrews Close, Lincoln, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at a later date.

During his two-year campaign, Parnham sent wave after wave of letters across the country that included white supremacist imagery and threats to minorities, mostly Muslims.

His first letters sent in June 2016 contained a white powder as a hoax poison.

In one letter sent to David Cameron, Parnham wrote “Allah is Great” and in others sent to mosques he wrote “Paki filth”.

Three months later Parnham sent another wave of white powder letters, including those addressed to the Queen and Theresa May respectively.

One of his poison hoaxes was so sophisticated that it triggered a chemical attack alert at a Royal Mail sorting office in Sheffield.

The following February, he targeted mosques around the UK. One letter to worshippers in Hull included a warning that they were going to be “slaughtered very soon”.

‘Awards’ for attacks

In March 2017 he escalated his campaign, encouraging recipients of his post at the University of Sheffield to attack ethnic minorities, proposing that he would donate £100 to charity for each killing.

The court heard these letters amounted to soliciting to murder and Parnham’s guilty plea to this charge means he could now receive a life sentence.

A year later, Parnham sent out letters headlined “Punish a Muslim Day”, offering “awards” for attacks on people, mosques and Mecca.

He was eventually caught after his DNA and fingerprints were recovered from some of the letters, including one that he sent to Dylann Roof, a US white supremacist who is on death row for a mass murder of black churchgoers three years ago.

BBC News

White supremacist admits being behind ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ hate campaign

By
October 12, 2018
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A white supremacist behind the Punish a Muslim Day letters who encouraged murder and sent hoax letters to The Queen, Theresa May, and David Cameron is facing years behind bars today.

David Parnham, 35, targeted Asian MP, high profile political figures, Royalty, and Muslim centres including Finsbury Park Mosque with hundreds of poison pen letters threatening violence which stretch over two years.

Also among the victims was Tory peer and former security minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon.

Parnham sent dozens of envelopes of white powder to his intended targets from his home in Lincoln.

He sparked full scale alerts over fears that it was anthrax or other poisons. However, the substances eventually turned out to be harmless.

He signed off letters to Asian MPs and Mosques as “Muslim Slayer” and included the phrase “P*ki filth”, according to prosecutors.

In a message to then-Prime Minister Mr Cameron, Parnham wrote the phrase “Allah is great”.

Mrs May, then Home Secretary, and The Queen were among the targets of a series of letters containing white powder which included the sinister phrase: “The clowns R coming 4 you”.

At the Old Bailey today, Parnham pleaded guilty to a series of charges including soliciting murder, making hoaxes, and sending letters with intent to cause distress.

He admitted being the source of the Punish a Muslim Day series of letters, which caused widespread alarm and panic when they spread on social media in March and May this year.

He had also sent out hate letters under different titles, including “The Great Cleanse” which was aimed at Mosques around London in August last year. In those notes, he suggested that Muslims should be “exterminated”.

In Parnham’s so called “Jigsaw” letters from February 2017, he included a picture of a person being decapitated with a sword with a Swastika insignia, including the phrase “blood will be spilled”.

In March last year, Parnham sent letters to homes around the University of Sheffield campus, urging people to “commit exterminations of minority racial and religious groups” and offering £100 for each murder.

A letter to a mosque in Sheffield in August last year read: “To filthy sub-human c********ers I have left a little present for you.it will go off in a short period of time.

“The results will be explosive! Muslim blood will make the floors sticky. Your brains will be splattered all over the walls. A good Muslim is a dead Muslim. Killin Muslims is awesome”.

Parnham’s letter writing campaign was eventually linked to the Punish a Muslim Day threats, which were circulated on social media and urged people to attack Muslims on April 3 this year

Police later discovered that Parnham was an avowed fan of white supremacist Dylann Roof, who shot dead nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Punish a Muslim Day initiative was timed to happened on Roof’s birthday.

Parnham even wrote a fan letter to the convicted mass murderer in an American prison in December 2016, saying: “I just wanted to thank you for opening my eyes. Ever since you carried out what I’d call the ‘cleansing’ I’ve felt differently about what you’d call ‘racial awareness’.”

He added: “ My main reason for disgust is Muslims. I hate these animals with a passion. I sent letters with white powder to some mosques in London they had to close down parliament because of it.”

In one of his last series of letters, under the menacing title “Bang! You’re dead”, Parnham targeted mosques and Asian families living nearby and included a picture of a man holding a gun.

He used the words: “I have acquired a weapon and I am more than prepared to use it on you and members of your Masjid”.

Parnham, from Lincoln, today pleaded guilty to soliciting to murder, five charges of hoaxes involving sending noxious substances, seven charges of sending letters with intent to cause distress or anxiety, one count of making a bomb hoax, and one count of encouraging offences believing one of more would be committed.

He was remanded in custody until a hearing on November 23 to decide when he will be sentenced.

Evening Standard

Stoke-on-Trent councillor sorry over rows at pub

By
September 19, 2018
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Richard Broughan apologised over arguments in pubs

Richard Broughan apologised over arguments in pubs

A councillor has apologised after arguing with residents.

Stoke-on-Trent City Councillor Richard Broughan was found by the authority’s Standards Committee to have got into a drunken argument over payment at a pub.

He had failed twice to write an apology letter and attend extra training, after being asked to do so by the council.

Mr Broughan has now apologised and confirmed he went to training for alcohol issues and will attend code of conduct sessions.

The Standards Committee upheld a complaint from an unnamed Stoke-on-Trent pub, during which the councillor, who represents the For Britain party on the Abbey and Hulton ward, was said to be “intoxicated and swearing” whilst arguing with a man at the bar, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

In a second complaint about a different incident – which was partially upheld – it was claimed Mr Broughan threatened to have the Travellers Rest pub in Milton shut down.

In a related incident, the councillor accepted a police caution for assault at a Milton fish and chip shop, but this complaint was not upheld by the committee as he was not on council business at the time.

Mr Broughan was previously ruled to bring the authority into disrepute over claims he made sexual remarks about a woman dressed as an elf.

BBC News

Ex-UKIP chairman issued with court order warning

By
August 8, 2018
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Arthur 'Misty' Thackeray got numbers from slimming world posters and an advert in a shop window

Arthur ‘Misty’ Thackeray got numbers from slimming world posters and an advert in a shop window

The former chairman of UKIP in Scotland has been given a final opportunity to comply with a court order or face jail.

Arthur “Misty” Thackeray, 57, admitted making a string of vulgar phone calls between October 2007 and December 2015 involving 10 different women.

He took the numbers from slimming world posters and an advert in a shop window.

But after being sentenced to a community payback order with various conditions he was back in the dock for a review of his court order.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard he had not been fully compliant with the order.

And it emerged he told his supervising officer that the phone calls were “consensual”.

The court heard that as a result of his attitude, he is unsuitable for a sex offenders’ programme.

‘One final opportunity’

Sheriff Martin Jones QC asked defence lawyer Craig Broadley: “Is he willing to accept that this is why he’s here?

“All these women, obviously having made complaints to the police?

“Is he deluding himself about whether or not these were consensual in nature?”

The sheriff added that the order was a “direct alternative to prison”.

He added: “I can easily revoke the order if he’s not complying and impose a custodial sentence.”

Mr Broadley confirmed Thackeray was aware he must engage fully.

He also told the court his his client would make a proper effort to comply.

The sheriff added: “I’m giving him one final opportunity, I expect to see an acceptance on his part, working with his supervising officer and changing his attitude.”

Thackeray will return to the court next month.

‘Violated and alarmed’

The calls were made from his home in Glasgow’s east end, at 1 Colme Street, Edinburgh and “elsewhere”.

UKIP Scotland leader and MEP David Coburn’s office is at the same address in the capital.

Thackeray pled guilty to nine charges of intentionally sending, or directing “sexual verbal communication” between 1 December 2010 and 19 December, 2015.

The women’s ages ranged from 25-year-old to 66 at the time of the offences.

He was handed a community payback order with the conditions he will be supervised for three years, will carry out 270 hours of unpaid work within nine months and will be on the sex offenders’ register for three years.

BBC News